What Should I Do?

[mikek65051]

Just got Doom 3 and think it is time to upgrade. Here is what I currently have.

AMD 2000xp
Asus A7n266-vm
2 sticks of 256 mb Crucial PC 2100
Windows xp pro
using onboard sound and video
(not sure if I need to mention the other components)

I am really not sure what the best route to take with a $300 budget (can go to $400 if absolutely necessary). Do I spend the money on a video card or do I need to buy a better board and video card? With the amount I can spend what would you do? Keep in mind the only thing I care about at this point is to be able to play this and future games at a decent frame rate.
Please post with your recommended components.
Thanks in advance.

 

[athalus]

doom 3 is not my type of game, i prefer rpg's like d2 arcanum etc. but i have been reading anandtech's extensive coverage of doom 3. including hardware recomendations and the difference of perfomace between amounts of ram etc. take a look it might help.

 

[Crashman]

I'd get the best video card you can afford, then upgrade the system around that video card when you have more money.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
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[Mr5oh]

Thats a tight budget to get a Doom3 machine. The key to playing the new games at decent frame rates is going to be a good video card.

You can probably keep your RAM for the moment, but should look at upgrading to a faster speed in the future.

I would probably get a new AMD XP+ chip. A 2500 is about $80 with heatsink, and a 2800+ chip is about $120, I would go with one of those two. Next get a basic motherboard, Giga-byte, MSI, and ASUS all have $50 boards that support the 400 fsb, on-board lan, 6-channel audio, just pick which brand you prefer.

You can pick up a 9600xt for $120-$130. Stick to a 128 MB version, most 256 MB cards don't have the best of ram on them.

This should be good to play anything, and will run Doom3 fine, just don't expect to be playing at Ultra quality or anything.


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[Mr5oh]

Crash does have a point too, for your $300 budget you could get a GeForce 6800, but to get all the performance out of it, expect to upgrade the rest later.

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[pat]

definitively a good video card. Then save money to buy faster componants later.

-Always put the blame on you first, then on the hardware !!!

 

[blackphoenix77]

Get the best video card you can afford

<font color=blue>AthlonXP-M 2500+(12x211)</font color=blue>
<font color=green>Abit NF7-S</font color=green>
<font color=red>Kingston DDR400 2x256Mb</font color=red>

 

[Spitfire_x86]

Get a new video card. GeForce 6800 is within your budget, but GeForce 6800GT is highly recommended. Make sure that your current PSU can is good enough for the new graphics card. Then Doom3 is certainly going to be playable.

You can upgrade your CPU/mobo/RAM later for better framerate.

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